Fingerprinting device



INVENI' OR ATTORNEYS June 23, 1953 q. E. HARRIS IFINGERPRINTING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 10, 1950 BEE.

.rm' EH'nmzs BY MM V M Patented June 23, 1953 OFFICE I FINGERPRINTING DEVICE James E. Harris, Smyrna, Tenn. Application August 10, 1950, Serial No. 178,740

3 Claims. (01. 41-4) This invention relates to finger printing devices and has more particular reference to a device for holding and moving a finger print card during the various steps of recording finger prints thereon.

One object of the present invention'is to provide a novel and improved finger printing ma chine including means for holding-a finger print card in proper position to have finger prints impressed thereon and feeding means for feeding the card through the machine so that successive horizontal rows of finger prints may be impressed on the card.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a finger printing machine, as characterized above, wherein all the operations may take place without the operator touching the' card between the time it is placed in the machine and removed therefrom.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a finger printing machine, as characterized above, in which the card for'receiving the finger imprints may be easily and quickly placed in'the machine, and during its passage through the machine is held out of the way of the operator and the person being finger printed so as not to interfere with the taking of the impressions.

A' further object of the invention is to provide a finger printing machine which is simple and inexpensive in construction and efficient in operation.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear in the following specification when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein: j'

Fig. l is a plan view of a preferred form of a finger printing machine constructed in ac cordance with the present invention;

Fig.2 is a front elevational view of the machine shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a left hand side elevational view of the machine shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken on the I 2 rollers 13 thereon; asecond or upper housing It pivotally mounted onand above the,hous-, ing II and carrying a shaft l5 having spaced idle rollers l6 mounted thereon in position to engage and cooperate with the feed rollers I3 to advance a finger print card through. the machine; a pair of spring assemblies. indicatedgenerally at I1, for normally holding the housing M in' apositionto cause the idle rollers iii to grippingly engage the feed rollers l3; a gate 18 positioned in front of the housing I I for holding the lower portion of a card inside the housing; an idle roller 19 mounted in the gate l8; and an idle roller 20 mounted'in the housing II in position to cooperate with the idle roller l9 to facilitate the movement .of the finger print card through the machine.

The baseor support i0 is shown as compris ing a generally rectangular block 2|, preferably made of 'woodand having a felt base 22 suitably secured thereto, .as by means of adhesive.

The housing ll comprises a generally rectangular, hollow, open bottom and open front box-like structure, preferably made of sheet metal and having end walls 23, 24, a rear wall 25, and a top wall 26, which forms a platen for supporting a finger print card.

The bottom edges of the end walls 23,- 24 are secured to rectangular strip metal plates 21, 28',

7 screws.

the' base member ID .and' has its forward edge curved downwardly and rearwardly to form :an overhanging ledge 29 (see Figs. 3 and 4).

The shaft l2 extends longitudinally through .the housing H with its ends extending through and journalled in the end walls 23, 24. The

projecting ends of the. shaft [2 have knurled knobs 30, suitably secured thereon; as by. set The feed rollers [3, four such being shown, are secured in longitudinal spaced relation on the shaft I2, as by set screws. Preferably; the rollers 12 are made of metal and have their outer peripheries knurled. The upper portions of the rollers l3 project through elongated slots 3| formed in the top wall l6 of the housing ll (seeFigsA and 5). r Y.

'Ihe' 'open-front of'thehousing H is partially closed by a gate I8 composed of a flat strip of sheet meta1 32 having rectangular blocks 33, 34 secured on its inner face at each end. The gate iss'wingably mounted on the housing, as by means of a vertical hinge pin 35 extending through-the block 34 and havingits upper end.

3 journalled in the overhang of the top wall of the housing and its lower end journalled in a block 36 secured to the base member ID.

Suitable latch means are provided for holding the gate in its closed position and, as shown, 5 such means comprises an elongated, resilient metal strip 31 secured to the end wall 23 of the housing and having a spring clip end 38 adapted to snap over the end of. the gate and hold it shut against the front of the housing, as shown in Fig. 3.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 4, the height of the gate and its mounted position are such that suflicient clearance is left between them-nulthe gate and the bottom of the overhang oi the top wall of the housing and the bottom of'the gate and the top of the base member-2|; to preyide ample clearance for the passage of a finger print 7 card therethrough, in a manner to be hereinatter described. 7

The idle roller I9 is mounted i n the'gate'l'fl and extends longitudinally thereof with its ends journaled in the blocks 33, 34.

The idle roller is mounted within the'front V lower portion of the housing 11 and extendslongitudinally thereof with its ends journalle'd in the side walls of the housing. Each of the rollers l9 and 29 preferably, and asshown, comprises an elongated wooden cylinder $3.9 secured on a metal shaft Alb.

The upper housing'l l comprises a generally rectangular, hollow, open bottom 'and'openbank, box-like structure, having a top wall M, end walls 32, 3, and a'front wa'll M. The: housing 1 1 is pivotally mounted on and between the ends of' a pair of vertical brackets '45", each of which is secured to anfigirdwall off'thehousing H. The brackets :lE-support,the upper housing ina raised position above the: topof the lower housing I I and with the. froritfwallofthe upper is housing spaced rearwardly from therorward edge of the top wall orthe'lower' housing H "(see The shaft 115- extendslongitndinally through the housing [-5 with its. ends jomnalled in; the &5 end walls thereof. -The idle rollers 1.6,fonr such being shown, are suitably securedin longitudi nally spaced relation on the snail; position for each idle roller to engage a corresp ndin feed roller l3 on the shaft. 12. (see .Figjfil.

Spring assemblies, indicated. generally at ll, are provided forholdingthe idle rollers IS in gripping engagement with the. feed. rollers l3 so that the finger. cardjheldhetweenthe idle rollers and the feed rollerstwillibe advanced through the machine. as the shaft t2 rotated by the knurled knobs on they ends thereof; and, as shown, such assemblies may'e'omprise a spaced pair of posts 3% having. their upper-ends: re, duced, as shown at 4: and having their lower ends secured to the. rear ends of the metal strip 27 and 28; compression springs. 4% mounted on the posts and engaging washers, which, in turn, engagewthe under sides or the extensions '4 formed on the, side walls 2,1 3: of heihousin 6.5 it. The. extelaislonel9. have elongated. slots .50- iormed thereinwhich receive thezyredueed upper ends 4! of the posts 45;; Thezupwarel pressureoft-he springs the housing 14 about its pivotalgaxis so that, the idle rollers: 16 are .held 7Q in tight engagement with the feed rollersld.

A spacedpair of. la-shaped springciip members- 5-l have their upstanding; rearends secured to the. front wall 44 0f the? upper-hous g l4. -and hav their latera ly. arms, 5?: normally 4 resting upon the front end portion of the top wall of the lower housing (see Figs. 1 and 4). The spring clip arms 52 may be raised from the surface of the top plate of the upper housing by swinging the front end portion of the upper housing upwardly about its pivotal axis.

A spaced pair of guide members 53 are suitably secured, as by welding, on the top wall of the housing ll along the side edges and adjacent to the front end; thereof (see Figs. 1 and 2). Each of the guide members 53 isshown as comprising an elongated strip of metal having one of its longitudinal edges bent under and upwardly against the rest of the strip.

While the machine of the present invention may beusd with any usual type of finger print card, itis especially designed for use with finger print cards of the type used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The manner in which the machine operates is shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The operator'inserts a finger print card, indicated at C, underthe spring clips 52 and the guides E53, and pushes it toward therear of the machine until the top edge of the card is in position to be engaged by the idle rollers I5 and the feed rollers 53, when a slight turn of the knobs .30 will-engage the card between the rollers (see Fig. 3). The idle rollers and the feed rollers will grip the end of the card and the spring clip members 52 will hold the card 'securely'on the platen formed by thetop wall of the housing ll; in-position to receive the first longitudinal row of imprints oi the fingers oi the person'being finger printed, as shown in Fig. 1. Then, the operator opens the-gate l8, bends the portion of the finger print cardextending over the front of Y the machine downwardly behind the gate, then, he closes the gate so that the card will be held in the machine in the position shownin Fig. 4. After the first horizontal row of-finger imprints have been made, the cardia fed'into themachine by the operatorturning the knurled knobs on the shaft carryingthe feed roller, to bring the card into position to receive the second horizontal. row of finger imprints. This procedure is followed .until the card has been .completed and it is pulled out of the rear of the machine by the operator. 7

It should benoted that theidle rollers. l9 and illfguide theflower portion of the card as it passes. through the front portion of the housing H" and that atall times the lower portion of the card is held out of the way with no danger of its inadvertently getting smeared with. ink or otherwise damaged. It shouldalso be noted that theidle rollers iii areverynarrow so as to prevent. their rolling over the imprints after they have been. taken. a The (narrow idle rollers l5 only engage the card. along .aline between the imprints. Also, the spring clip members 52 are so positioned as to engage the'card along lines between the spaoes for receiving thefinger imprints, as shown in Fig. 1.

From theforegoing, it. readily will be seen that there has been provided anovel, and improved finger printing machine which will hold a finger print'c'ard and permits movement vtherethrou g'h without. the. operator touching. the carol between thetime it i'spIacE'd in the machine andremoved thereiromjone. which is/simple and inexpensive in construction, easy to Operate,- and efficient. in use.

Qbviously, thev invention is not restricted to the. particular .einbodiment thereof herein shown What is claimed is:

1. In a finger printing machine, a platen having a rounded front end; spaced parallel guides positioned along the forward side edges of said platen for holding and guiding a finger print card during its travel over the platen; means for feeding the finger print card over the platen comprising manually operated feed rollers; and guide means positioned below and rearwardly of the front end of said platen for engaging and holding the portion of the finger print card not on the platen in a position under the platen and out of the way of the operator and the person being finger printed, said guide means comp-rising a fixed guide member extending transversely of the platen and a swingable guide member pivotally connected below and at one side of the platen, the construction and arrangement being such that the swingable guide member may be moved to an open position to permit the projecting portion of a finger print card mounted on the platen to be bent downwardly around the rounded front edge of the platen and rearwardly into engagement with the fixed guide member and moved to a closed position to hold the finger print card against the fixed guide member.

2. In a finger printing machine, a platen having a rounded front end; spaced parallel guides positioned along the forward side edges of said platen for holding and guiding a finger print card during its travel over the platen; means for feeding the finger print card over the platen compris-' ing manually operated feed rollers; and guide means positioned below and rearwardly of the front end of said platen for engaging and holding the portion of the finger print card not on the platen in a position under the platen and out of the way of the operator and the person being finger printed, said guide means comprising a fixedly mounted guide roller extending transversely of said platen; a gate member pivotally mounted below and at one side of the platen; and a guide roller mounted in the gate member in position to cooperate with said fixedly mounted guide roller when said gate is in closed position, the construction and arrangement being such that the gate may be swung to an open position to permit the lower portion of a finger print card mounted on the platen to be bent downwardly against the fixedly mounted roller and then swung to its closed position in which the lower portion of the finger print card will be held between and guided by the guide rollers.

3. A finger print machine comprising a gener- 6 ally rectangular base member; a platen having a rounded front end and a transverse row of spaced alignedslots positioned rearwardly of said front edge; supporting members mounted on said base member with their upper ends secured to the side edges of'said platen for supporting it in position above said base member; a shaft journaled in said supporting member and extending transversely of and below said platen; a plurality of feed rollers secured in spaced relation on said shaft, each roller positioned so that a portion of its periphery extends through one of said slots; a housing pivotally mounted upon said supporting member in a position above said platen; a shaft mounted in said housing and carrying a plurality of idle rollers, each positioned above one of said feed rollers; spring means normally urging said housing about its pivotal axis to hold said idle rollers in gripping engagement with said feed rollers; spaced parallel guides mountedon the forward side edges of said platen for guiding a finger print card during its travel over the platen; a spaced pair of spring clamp members carried by said housing and positioned to extend forwardly over the forward end of said platen to hold down a finger print card thereon, said rollers and said spring clamp members being spaced so as to correspond with the spaces between the imprints made on the finger print card so as to avoid smearing the imprints; an idle roller journaled in said side supports and extending below and transversely of said platen; a swingable gage member pivotally mounted on said base member at one side of the front end of said platen, an idle roller References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,957,628 Carpani May 8, 1934 2,149,573 Bounds Mar. 7,1939 2,172,904 Cox Sept. 12, 19-39 

